Casinos and other forms of gaming comprise a growing multi-billion dollar industry both domestically and abroad, with electronic and microprocessor based gaming machines being more popular than ever. A gaming entity that provides gaming services may control gaming devices that are globally distributed in many different types of establishments. For example, gaming machines may be placed in casinos, convenience stores, racetracks, supermarkets, bars and boats. Further, via a remote server, a gaming entity may provide gaming services in a locale of a user's choosing, such as on a home computer or on a mobile device carried by the user.
Electronic, electromechanical, and microprocessor based gaming machines can include various hardware and software components to provide a wide variety of game types and game playing capabilities, with such hardware and software components being generally well known in the art. For example, bill validators, coin acceptors, card readers, keypads, buttons, levers, touch screens, displays, coin hoppers, player tracking units and the like are examples of hardware that can be coupled to a gaming machine. Software components can include, for example, boot and initialization routines, various game play programs and subroutines, credit and payout routines, image and audio generation programs, security monitoring programs, authentication programs and a random number generator, among others.
The functions available on a gaming machine may depend on whether the gaming machine is linked to other gaming devices. For instance, when connected to other remote gaming devices, a gaming machine may provide progressive jackpots, player tracking and loyalty points programs, cashless gaming, and bonusing among other items. Many of these added components, features and programs can involve the implementation of various back-end and/or networked systems, including more hardware and software elements, as is generally known.
In a typical casino-based electronic gaming machine, such as a slot machine, video poker machine, video keno machine or the like, a game play is initiated through a wager of money or credit, whereupon the gaming machine determines a game outcome, presents the game outcome to the player and then potentially dispenses an award of some type, including a monetary award, depending upon the game outcome. In this instance, the gaming machine is operable to receive, store and dispense indicia of credit or cash as well as calculate a gaming outcome that could result in a large monetary award. The gaming machine is enabled to operate in this manner because it is placed typically in a location that is monitored (e.g., a casino), the gaming machine hardware and software components are secured within a locked cabinet and the gaming machine includes a security system for detecting fraud or theft attempts.
Various systems are used to present a game outcome to a player. Electronic video displays in combination with audio devices and other electronic elements are used in some systems. Other systems use spinning reels to display a game outcome to a player. Historically, wager-based gaming machines used spinning reels that were set in motion by a player pulling a lever on the side of the machine. Such purely mechanical machines were later replaced by electromechanical machines in which reels are spun by electric motors (typically stepper motors), and stopped so that they display a predetermined game outcome. Newer generations of wager-based gaming machines are purely electronic, without any spinning reels or other moving parts, and with video displays that present a video representation of gaming activity (which may include video representation of spinning reels). Electromechanical machines have an appeal to some players who are accustomed to spinning reels and do not like purely electronic displays. Such electromechanical systems therefore remain in production and in use, and are expected to remain in use for some time to come. Providing improved functionality in such mechanical systems is therefore desirable.